The difference between anesthesia and sedation

The article was professionally consulted by Specialist Doctor I Nguyen Xuan Tinh - Anesthesiologist - Resuscitation - Department of General Surgery - Vinmec Phu Quoc International General Hospital. The doctor has more than 18 years of experience studying and working in the field of Anesthesia - Resuscitation.

Fear of pain is a feeling that often appears in patients every time they have to have surgery. Anesthesia and anesthesia are methods to help patients no longer feel pain during surgery. So what is the difference between anesthesia and sedation?

Anesthesia is an anesthetic method that uses chemical or physical agents that temporarily inhibit nerve impulse conduction in order to numb the sensation of pain in a certain area of ​​the body. People use local anesthetic injections and inhibit pain sensation. All minor surgery cases are applied with local anesthesia. Because of local anesthesia, the patient was completely awake during surgery.
Anesthesia is divided into two methods: local anesthesia and regional anesthesia.
Local anesthetic is to make a small area no longer feel pain. Local anesthetic is applied to small surgical areas such as a shallow, small, skin wound, scalp wound, finger or toe wound, etc. Regional anesthesia is the numbing of a larger area. Regional anesthesia is an injection of local anesthetic into the spinal cord or epidural. An anesthetic is injected into the spinal cord and the corresponding nerve roots. Regional numbness causes loss of sensation in a large area of ​​the body, such as the abdomen, back, or legs or arms.

Anesthesia is a method of anesthesia aimed at temporarily losing consciousness, sensations, and reflexes, by means of anesthetics acting on the central nervous system. The drug can be injected through a vein or given to the patient to inhale the anesthetic through the airways. With anesthesia, the patient will not be aware and no longer feel pain during surgery, the patient does not know how and when the surgery happened.
Depending on the way the anesthetic enters the body, people are divided into 3 types:
Inhalation anesthesia: When used for anesthesia, the drug is introduced into the patient's body through the respiratory tract, the patient inhales vapors. anesthetics, drugs that pass through the alveoli into the bloodstream. Anesthesia by other routes: Intravenous anesthesia, rectal anesthesia, intramuscular anesthesia. Combined anesthesia: Using different anesthetics through one or more different routes into the patient's body to induce anesthesia or using anesthetics in combination with analgesics and muscle relaxants. General anesthesia with regional anesthesia. Depending on the required surgical needs, the large or small surgical area, the patient's health status, the test results, and the surgical method, people choose different anesthetic and anesthetic methods. together. Often the surgeon and anesthesiologist will discuss the most appropriate method to apply for anesthesia or sedation. Any type of anesthesia has risks, although today the safety of anesthesia has been greatly improved. But under certain health conditions, the safety of anesthesia is still affected. Therefore, before the anesthesia is administered, the anesthesiologist will inform the patient of the possible bad things that can happen.